Cowboys CB Orlando Scandrick Suspended 4 Games

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick has been suspended for the first four games of the season due to a violation of the NFL’s PED policy. Scandrick had just renegotiated his contract in November of 2013.

As per league policy, Scandrick will now forfeit $670,882 of signing bonus money and $176,471 of his base salary. The lost base salary will immediately come off of the Dallas Cowboys salary cap once the regular season begins while the bonus forfeiture will be credited over the term of his contract.

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In many ways Scandrick is lucky by the timing of the suspension. Dallas had restructured Scandrick’s contract in March for salary cap relief, converting $3.375 million of his base salary into a signing bonus. Had the Cowboys not done that he would have lost a total of $1,553,235 rather than the $847,353 he will now lose. Thats a savings of nearly $706,000 due to a simple accounting change.

The suspension will likely void any future guarantees Scandrick has in the contract. Scandrick’s $750,000 base salary in 2014 was fully guaranteed while his $4.5 million total salary in 2015 and 2016 was guaranteed for injury. Those injury guarantees would have vested to full guarantees in March of each league year.

I would be interested to understand how the Cowboys will get the money back – the actual mechanism. I assume that Scandrick already has his signing bonus money so does he have to cut them a check for the $670,822? I am not sure when the players actually receive their base salary so clarification on how he will get the Cowboys the $176,471 would be appreciated as well.

http://www.nyjetscap.com/ Jason Fitzgerald

The $176,471 will simply never be paid. Thats the amount he would have earned for those 4 weeks. Since hes suspended he will receive no pay check.

The $670K will come out of paychecks they owe him. Its possible he has not received his full bonus yet (they are not always paid up front) so they can withold money if they want.

Essentially what a team can do is recapture the money by any methods they want. If the bonus is paid out Scandrick would not receive a check all season for more than $0.00 with $573,529 (his remaining 13 weeks of pay) paying off most of his forfeiture. Dallas could claim whatever performance based pay they have allocated for him to make up the balance or simply continue to keep him on the roster in 2015 but not pay him until the 670K is fully repaid.

Featured Contract

Ben Roethlisberger signed a 4 year contract extension with the Steelers on March 13, 2015. Details of the contract are based primarily on a report by Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. According to Bouchette, Roethlisberger received a $31 million signing bonus. The first three years of the contract are guaranteed for injury which is where the reported $65 million in guarantees comes from. $9 million in escalators are available in the final two contract years. The new contract saved the Steelers about $1.15 million in 2015 cap space.